[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 23, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO REV. DR. GADSON L. GRAHAM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DONALD M. PAYNE

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 2004

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a devoted and 
inspirational member of my community, Rev. Dr. Gadson L. Graham, on the 
occasion of his 45th Pastoral Anniversary.
  Dr. Graham will be honored this month by the members of the Canaan 
Baptist Church of Paterson, New Jersey, and I am honored to join with 
them in extending my best wishes to this man who has dedicated his 
life's work to serving others. He has ministered to our community as a 
preacher, a teacher, a mentor, and a counselor.
  In 1975, Dr. Graham founded the Haitian Project, Canaan Baptist 
Church's first foreign mission program, and has extended this global 
outreach to many other countries, including Liberia, Senegal, Benin, 
and Uganda. His global ministry has offered him the opportunity to meet 
with members of the British Parliament, the Honorable Nelson Mandela, 
President of South Africa, and His Excellency Robert Mugabe, President 
of Zimbabwe.
  Dr. Graham serves on the Board of Directors for the New Jersey 
Performing Arts Center and serves as Advisory Board President of the 
Rutgers School of Nursing, both in Newark, New Jersey. Among his many 
honors and awards, he was named Pastor of the Year by Brothers in Blue, 
a Policeman's Fraternal Organization in the City of Paterson; was the 
first African American minister to mentor African American students at 
Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck; and was the recipient of the 
Z-HOPE HONOREE Award, given by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., State of 
New Jersey, and Rho Tau Zeta Chapter of Paterson for his humanitarian 
pursuits to uplift women and their families in Haiti, Africa and other 
countries.
  I am grateful for Dr. Graham's leadership in the community, and I 
value his commitment to meeting the needs of his brothers and sisters 
in Paterson, the United States, and around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in extending thanks to Dr. Graham for 45 
years of pastoral ministry; and I invite my colleagues to join me in 
wishing him the strength and grace to continue for many years to come.

                          ____________________